starrynightskies

It’s truly amazing what the human body is capable of…

I liked the brief foot massage and the fact that my toes are now a pretty color, but it was just too weird having someone else clip my nails, clean out underneath them, and there’s always the underlying fear that they might press too hard and it’ll really hurt, or that they’ll accidently cut me or something. I’ll do my own toes from now on, thanks. It was a good experience and I’m glad I did it once, but I don’t need to do it again – especially not at $2 a toe.

You can force this – it just happens. Cliched as this sounds, you need to be yourself and let others see the real, beautiful, wonderful you. You probably won’t even know if you’ve inspired someone – it’s not like they’ll tell you right off the bat. So maybe you have already, and you just don’t know it!

Did it keep my attention? Yes. Was it well-written? ...Yeah. Did I like it? No.

The plot was far too contrived to be believable. I usually enjoy using my imagination and can breeze over minor unbelievabilities. However, the entire book seemed to push me to the limits of my imagination and go far beyond it. I’m sorry, but trying to make me believe that our heros could figure out impossible-to-solve puzzles in 20 minutes, and barely escape the police too many times to count in a single night is far too much. Better to extend the story over several weeks and cut back on the puzzles and daring escapes.

This book was so not worth it.

I got a four on the AP Psychology test last year, which is pretty cool. I thought I’d get a three because I really didn’t do well on the essays. I must’ve aced the multiple choice, I guess.

I’m hoping it’ll count as some sort of credit for college next year, but who knows? Do these things expire?

Yes, it’s hot, yes there are mosquitos (in summer), and yes, it can be expensive, but I loved Fiji! The heat didn’t bother me too much (even though it was inescapable – no AC at our resort and the water itself was about 90 degrees). I’ve been more uncomfortable in other places, and Fiji’s beauty and friendly locals are enough to make up for it.

Stonehenge was really fascinating and beautiful, but make sure to read up on it before you go! It really enhances the experience if you know the basic history and some fun facts about it before you go see it (and don’t figure the tour guide will tell you everything you need to know – trust me, it’s so much better to know beforehand!).

I loved Germany so much I want to live there someday! It’s full of quaint little villages and towns hundreds – some thousands – of years old! We got to go to a market in a cobblestone square, surrounded by tutor-style buildings and buy some things from a produce cart, some from a cheese cart, some from a meat cart, etc. It was like stepping back in time. And, while they do have grocery stores, there are still butcheries and bakeries all over the place! One morning we woke up at 6 to go down and buy breakfast at the local bakery. It was gooood!

Ireland is amazing! It’s so beautiful there and we had a great time on our trip! We took a bike tour (Irish Cycling Safaris) around nearly 200 miles of Connemara, Mayo, and Galway. We got to see extremely remote parts of the country, which is, in some ways, better than visiting the tourist attractions. Even though there’s nothing there, there’s a certain peace about the place and it’s very refreshing.

I love riding bareback! You’re so much more connected with the horse, you can feel it’s muscles under you and you can feel every little bit of it’s body moving. It’s such an awesome feeling to have all that power! And it’s wonderful in winter because the horse is so warm – you never want to get off!

That, and it also looks pretty impressive. :)

I had some on a recent trip to Ireland…..blech. It really is an aquired taste and I don’t have it. Give me Heineken any day.

I love acting! I’ve been in at least one play a year since Kindergarten, and many years more than one. I love the thrill of getting up and performing (when I’m comfortable with what I’m doing) and having everyone congradulate me afterwards. Everyone should try it at least once!

Firefox is a great web browser. I can’t go back to anything else now. The best feature, in my opinion, is how you can open multiple sites in the same window (they’re kept in different tabs – sort of windows inside the broswer window). It’s so much easier not having to deal with all the windows in the taskbar if you’re surfing several different places at once, and the tabs are easy to see and get to. Seriously, get Firefox if you don’t have it already.

I love Gmail! I don’t think I can ever go back to anything else after having all that space, easy text formatting, the archiving system, and even the humorous little notes the creators have put in their explanations of new features.

Gmail is so awesome!

Definitely get a digital camera! I love not worrying about wasting pictures because they’re so easy to delete and don’t cost anything to take them. It’s great being able to just download them to my computer, I get great resolution, and if I ever want prints, Wal-Mart (and other places) will print them for a reasonable price.

Sorry, though, I don’t know much about the different kinds of digital cameras, so I’m not able to help anyone choose a good one. I just highly recommend them!

I was only in New Zealand for two days on layover, but I loved it! I really want to go back! New Zealand is such a beautiful place – the diverse terrain is amazing (how everything from mountains to plains to black-sand beaches to rolling farmland is all packed into such a little country). Definitely go there is you get a chance, and don’t miss seeing the glowworm caves!

I was on a youth retreat in Erie, PA once, and we were out on a pontoon boat at night when we noticed “odd clouds and lights” in the sky. It was an arc of light, like you’d see city lights reflecting on the clouds, and being that far south, we never expected to see the Northern lights. We kept watching it, though, and eventually it took on the shape that one would expect of northern lights (the vertical shafts) and we could actually watch it move and sway. It was so beautiful and fascinating! After a while, green and red colors appeared and it filled the sky. I can’t even describe what I was feeling, it was so breathtaking. I’d wanted all my life to see it and there I was, caught totally by suprise and getting to witness such a beautiful thing from the middle of a lake. I can’t believe how fortunate I was and I can’t wait to see it again someday!

On a trip to Los Angeles last year, I was fortunate enough to have gotten to visit Ernest and Tova Borgnine in their home (I love having connections)! It was surreal – Ernie even let us hold his Oscar! They were both really nice to us; not at all haughty or anything, and we stayed for an hour or two chatting. After a while, Ernie’s grown son Chris walked in and told us about working with Mel Gibson on The Passion, which was just about to come out in theaters.

It was really exciting and fascinating – I’m so glad I had that opportunity!